Posts filed under ‘Health Care Reform’
Extend the Life of Medicare: Pass Health Care Reform Now
If you have Medicare and want to keep it, you should be in favor of health care reform.
Recently the non-partisan Medicare Advisory Payment Commission (MedPAC) released its biannual report to Congress, which for the fifth consecutive year advised Congress to equalize reimbursements to Medicare Advantage plans with the traditional Medicare fee-for-service program.
According to non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates, equalizing payments between Medicare Advantage programs and the traditional Medicare programs will generate $170 billion in savings over the next ten years.
MedPAC’s report concluded that the “Commission has consistently supported the concept of financial neutrality between payment rates for the fee-for-service program and private plans.” Under the current reimbursement system, Medicare Advantage plans are reimbursed on average 14 percent more than traditional Medicare plans. These extra costs are born by beneficiaries in the traditional Medicare program and all taxpayers.
The health care reform bills passed by both the House and the Senate, and the proposals by President Obama, would reduce wasteful Medicare Advantage spending – saving money for Medicare beneficiaries and taxpayers alike, and extending the solvency of the Medicare program. We urge Congress to pass health care reform now!
A Note to Republicans about Medicare and Health Care Reform
We at the Center for Medicare Advocacy listened to the concerns you expressed about Medicare at the Health Care Summit on February 25. Unfortunately, your descriptions of what happens to Medicare in the House, Senate, and President’s proposals does not accord with what the proposals actually do.
We want to remind you of some facts about Medicare and the healthcare bills that were passed by the Senate and the House and that are proposed by President Obama.
- None of the proposals cuts Medicare benefits.
- What Medicare covers today will be covered after legislation is enacted.
- Coverage is actually enhanced adding coverage of an annual exam.
- Costs to Medicare beneficiaries are reduced by:
- Eliminating cost-sharing for preventive services,
- Reducing the Part D donut hole,
- Limiting the cost-sharing Medicare Advantage plans may charge.
- Quality of care received by Medicare beneficiaries is improved through:
- The addition of new delivery systems to coordinate care,
- The reduction of unnecessary hospital readmissions.
- Cuts to Medicare Advantage plans reduce waste in the Medicare program by cutting unnecessary overpayments to private insurance companies.
- Medicare Advantage plans are paid, on average 14% more that Medicare would spend if the beneficiary were in the traditional Medicare program.
- Overall, the savings to Medicare extend the life of the Part A Trust fund by 9 years.
Please, when you talk about Medicare to your constituents, get the facts straight and stop scaring Medicare beneficiaries. On the whole, Medicare beneficiaries stand to benefit if health reform as proposed is enacted.
Republicans express concern about cuts to Medicare, but their actions don’t always follow their concerns. Republican Senator Jim Bunning from Kentucky is currently filibustering a bill that would delay the 21% cut in Medicare payments to physicians that is to take effect on Monday, March 1, 2010. If the payment cut is not addressed, many doctors indicate that they will stop accepting new Medicare payments in their practice. Instead of protecting Medicare, Senator Bunning’s actions will reduce access to doctors for the 44 million people who rely on the Medicare program.
The “R” in COBRA: It’s Time to Use It Again
Everyone knows about COBRA. It’s the law that allows people who lose employer-sponsored health insurance to purchase the insurance they previously had. Because COBRA prevents some people from being uninsured, Congress even set aside money in the Stimulus Package passed in 2009 to help some people who lost their job buy their COBRA coverage.
But not everyone knows that the “R” in COBRA stands for Reconciliation. The COBRA health care continuation provisions were enacted as part of the Consolidated Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985. In other words, this important health care protection came into being through the budgetary process that is now being discussed as a mechanism for enacting meaningful health insurance reform.
Some people argue that reconciliation can’t be used for health insurance reform; that reconciliation can only be used to “reconcile” income and spending with the income and spending levels established in the President’s annual budget. But Congress has often used budget reconciliation as a vehicle for making changes to existing policy; COBRA is not the only health bill that was enacted through this process.
Budget reconciliation has been used to establish protections for nursing home residents; extend insurance coverage to workers and dependents who lose employer-sponsored coverage; create a health insurance program for children; expand the role of private insurance offerings in Medicare; and change Medicaid eligibility. Given these precedents, budget reconciliation can be used to create health care reform that will:
- Expand health insurance to 31 million Americans;
- Make insurance more affordable for everyone, including closing the Part D donut hole for Medicare beneficiaries;
- Protect against discriminatory practices by insurers;
- Reduce fraud and waste; and,
- From a budgetary perspective, reduce the deficit by $100 billion over the next 10 years.
Congress will need to consider its next steps to enacting meaningful health insurance reform after the White House bipartisan meeting on health care on February 25. It’s time for Congress to remember the “R” in COBRA continuation insurance stands for “reconciliation,” and to use the same reconciliation process to extend health insurance protections to all Americans.
Fool Me Once…
Newt Gingrich, staunch supporter of Medicare? That’s why he’s opposed to health care reform? If you read just the opening paragraph of Paul Krugman’s February 12, 2010 Op-Ed article, you might believe this. Well, you might believe it if you haven’t been paying attention to anything Gingrich and his fellow conservatives have been doing for the last couple of decades.
Gingrich himself is the man who enthusiastically declared in 1995, as Republicans pushed for Draconian cuts to the Medicare program, that Medicare would thus “wither on the vine.”
Yet, here we are 15 years later, and Mr. Gingrich is crying, according to Krugman, that “the reform bills passed by the House and Senate cut Medicare by approximately $500 billion. This is wrong.”
No, Mr. Gingrich, what’s wrong is the gall of hypocrites who will grasp any tactic to frighten people and fight the real health care reform our country so desperately needs.
Don’t Walk Away From Health Care Reform!
The Center for Medicare Advocacy supports efforts to pass the Senate’s health reform bill. We reiterate what President Obama asked of Congress in his State of the Union address, “don’t walk away from [health] reform!” Paul Krugman agreed in his NewYork Times editorial.
Now is not the time to retreat, or to insist that the perfect defeat the good. Too many people have no health insurance, too many are denied coverage because of preexisting conditions, too many face bankruptcy because of uncovered medical bills for us to give up.
What would Ted Kennedy do? He would agree! He would push forward to pass the Senate health reform bill. As he writes in his memoir about his efforts to pass reform – in 1977:
“My staff and I worked hard to craft a plan that would be capable of having broad-based support. Specifically, we negotiated long and hard in 1977 to persuade .. the AFL-CIO and … the UAW, to compromise on their strong commitment to a single-payer system, where health care providers would be paid from a single national fund like Medicare – and agree instead to support a plan built on our existing system of private insurance provided that coverage was mandatory and universal. I had personally supported single payer in the past and understood the benefits of it, but I also knew that it would be politically impossible to pass.” True Compass, p. 359 (2009)
Listen to Teddy! Pass the Senate health care reform bill as soon as possible – if that’s what can be done, if that’s what’s feasible – do it!
To speak to your members of Congress, call (800)828-0498.
Help Haiti!
Now is one of those times to broaden our focus. Haitians need … everything. To gain quick access to many reputable organizations that are helping and need donations, go to http://www.rachelhulin.com/blog/2010/01/five-ways-to-help-haiti.html .
From the White House
Dear Friend,
As the first year of the Obama Administration concludes with the State of the Union, the White House is inviting Americans across the country to connect directly with some of the President’s senior advisors. Through WhiteHouse.gov, these leaders will report to you on their work and answer your questions on where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re heading. Stop by WhiteHouse.gov to read all of the posts, join the chats, and find any updates on times. As the President likes to say, this is the “People’s House,” so we want to open it up and make sure you know what we’re doing to bring the change America needs.
Sincerely,
Valerie Jarrett
Senior Advisor to the President
Further to Senators Who Live in Glass Houses …
As Center for Medicare Advocacy executive director Judith Stein writes in today’s Washington Post, consideration of the current health reform bills calls for some perspective, and some knowledge of very recent history.
Read the letter, here.
Thank you! 60 Senators Bring Us One Step Closer to Health Care Reform
True, the bill that passed the Senate is far from perfect. But, can you imagine what the opposition would be saying if the bill met our standards for true health care reform? As it is, the brave Senators who led this battle have endangered their political careers. This includes Senator Chris Dodd (CT), senior Senator from the Center for Medicare Advocacy’s home state.
So we thank Senator Dodd and everyone who worked to get this good bill passed. Here are some highlight’s from Families USA: Manager’s amendment: Providing more competition and affordable choices for Americans ; Manager’s amendment: Improving quality and controlling costs ; Manager’s amendment: Enhancing affordable choices for small businesses .
Get some rest, all! Another big push to provide health care equity awaits us after we ring in 2010.
Senators Who Live In Glass Houses …
Reporting about health reform agreements among Senators ought to include a look into some recent history, which few know about, acknowledge, or care to remember. Hint: look at the “process” and deals involved in the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003.
CMA Health Policy Blog 